


The Dark Sides

by Lilyanne



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Takes time between the end of "Putting others First" and it's "Post CreditScene, This Story is my try to solve that, Where was Virgil during the Video, no romance just friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24687874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyanne/pseuds/Lilyanne
Summary: The Story starts right after the End of "Putting Others First"Thomas is still stressed about what happened but other questions start to cross his mind and make him worry even more than before the discussion of his Sides. But the one question he wants to get answered as soon as possible is... where is Virgil?
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue - Where was Virgil?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so first of all... I fell into the Sanders Sides Fandom in a short amount of time, but I fell deep. I may just write this to get it out of my brain, who knows. As mentioned in the description, the story starts after the latest (at 11.06.2020) Episode of "Sanders Sides" and plays in the time after the Sides have left the "room" and the post credit scene (if you can call it that).  
> Also I should mention that I'm not native in English so if some sentences sound weird in their structure, the time seems off or I use commas too much...that's why. But still I hope some of you at least will enjoy this story a little.  
> I'm happy to receive feedback if you wish to do so (if not that's fine, too let's don't act as if we all don't skip stories that aren't our cup of tea) and now just have fun reading.

** Prologue -_Where was Virgil? **

****

Today has been a wild ride for Thomas.  
Not in being physically exhausted but mentally. Talking to his sides always was a little stressful for his mind but today he had reached a whole new level.  
As soon as _Deceit_ -who was called Janus if he could believe in his words- had left, Thomas nearly collapsed on the sofa with a heavy sigh. He didn’t know how he felt but it certainly wasn’t good. The evening had started rather funny, although the wedding he attended was not as enjoyable as he had hoped it would be. The musical reflection on the evening sure has been entertaining but the talk that had followed nearly shook his entire world.  
Not only did Patton, his _Morality_ get into a crisis for himself. Roman had left the conversation in a way that left a sour taste in Thomas’ mouth and the fact that Janus had been the one to help him out, was almost as frightening than the absence of Logan -who had been kind of there and kind of not- and Virgil.

With the last thought that crossed his mind, Thomas sat bolt upright again.

Virgil…

His Anxiety.  
Considering the events of this evening, he should have been there, shouldn’t he? He was the part of him that made him get nervous about the wedding in the first place. Well… getting nervous about possible negative outcomes such as…

Spending the evening alone while playing game on his phone. Which is exactly what happened he now realized. Suddenly Thomas couldn’t think of anything else than that there was something terribly wrong. Normally in a situation _this_ stressful, he should have expected Virgil to show up. Not only during the wedding but during the discussion with his Sides afterwards, too.  
But there hasn’t been a sign of him anywhere.  
Now he was getting _really_ nervous. Which made the whole situation even more confusing. Clearly, he _was_ able to get nervous, anxious or scared, so it wasn’t like in the past as Virgil just decided to quit his Job for a while. So, he had to be somewhere, right?

“Maybe he’s dead?”  
With a slight eyeroll, Thomas sighed again and turned to the person who gave him this unwanted and rather disturbing thought.  
“Get out, Remus!”  
There he was, eating the goddamn deodorant again, shrugging as Thomas dismissed him that harshly.  
“Just saying! You know he was one of our squad once, right?”  
For a second Thomas actually didn’t know what his rather creepy imaginational side meant but then he remembered when he had seen Virgil the last time.

_“I thought that I would be able to protect you from them.”  
-“Uhm… the Dark Sides?”  
“The others. I- I thought- I thought I knew how to handle them!”  
-“Oh well, I- I think we’re all trying to figure them out for now. It will take some time to figure everything out.”  
“Yeah, but I should know better!”  
-“Isn’t that kind of unfair? Why should you be held to a different standard than any other Side?”_

_“ **Because I was one of them**!”_

Thomas had wanted to say something back then, but he hadn’t been able to find the right words and before he could come up with something to comfort Virgil -because he actually wanted to!- his Anxiety had disappeared. Virgil, not the feeling itself as it seemed.  
  
Thomas hadn’t seen him since then and thinking about it made the situation even worse.

Reluctantly he turned to Remus, who sat on the backrest of his couch, still eating deodorant.  
“You know that’s not how this should be used, right?”  
Remus only shrugged and took another bite.  
“It’s tasty!”, was all he had to say to this topic. But for once, after he put away his snack for once since he appeared, Remus actually looked like thinking about some more serious issue. “We’ve been rather close in the past actually!”, Remus then admitted, followed by a short grin. But it vanished as soon as the rather disturbing Side saw the reaction in Thomas’ face.  
“Yeah, I remember!”, Thomas said more to himself than to Remus and he really could remember those days well, although they had not been days he considered to be _well_. Before he had started to address his Sides personally, his reaction to his intrusive thoughts had been quite extreme. Sleepless nights, thoughts spiralling in his head and sometimes he had been rather close to a panic attack. How he had managed _not_ to fall into that dark pit, he still could not tell. But now…

“Do you know, where he might be?”  
Remus, who had taken a huge bite again, shrugged and shook his head at the same time since his mouth was still full of deodorant and he didn’t seem like he wanted to answer with a full mouth. Considering that this Side had no boundaries for what he should do and what he should not, this could almost be seen as effort to make Thomas not more uncomfortable than he already was.  
“You know what, I’m out!”, he then declared and jumped from the backrest. “This has been a stressful day and if you want to help Virge, you need to be well rested” The Duke walk to the place where Roman usually stood, when he appeared and disappeared and made a mocking bow towards Thomas. “It’s not as if we other Sides didn’t care for you as well, you know?”  
“What do you me-“  
He was gone.  
Thomas was alone again and on the brink of a collapse. An emotional one. But he managed to get back to the couch and he fell more on the seat than he actually sat down. Thomas buried his face in his hands and tried to calm down his thoughts. It felt like back in the old days, as Virgil had not been a part of his “active” Sides yet and had been somethi- … someone Thomas wanted to get rid of. But he didn’t want to be rid of him. He wanted Virgil back at the table, to talk with him, help him and all of his Sides through all this.  
But the Duke was right, which maybe was the most shocking result of tonight’s evenings.  
Thomas needed rest.  
But if he actually was able to fall asleep and get a proper amount of sleep, that remained to be seen.


	2. Sleepy Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Thomas tries to fall asleep, his Sides discuss the events of the evening on their own. And they realize they might need some additional help with the problems they're facing.

** Chapter 1 – Sleepy Thoughts **

Thomas was trying desperately to fall asleep. Within his mind everything raced around in circles, like it always occurred when someone tried to rest, but the brain was still working like an engine in “rush-mode”. His thoughts wouldn’t slow down as it seemed. And since Thomas always used to illustrate his thoughts with his Sides and his Mind-Palace, this symbolism should be used to illustrate his problem to calm down further on.  
The most troubled ones were certainly Roman and Patton. The two were facing Janus all by themselves, although Logan had tried to help them at some point. But in the end, it was all for nothing. At least from Romans perspective, who sat in his “room” of Thomas’ mind and was fighting for control over himself. He couldn’t deny the events of this night had shaken him up greatly.   
It had felt like a big slap in the face as Thomas had decided to listen to Deceit- Janus… To get used to this name would take some time, he was sure. This time it was completely different than it had been as Virgil had joined the group. With Thomas’ Anxiety it had taken some effort and talking to get him work with him together and although Virgil had been reluctant to join them, he had been getting more and more helpful. Roman and him didn’t get along quite along well in the beginning. The reason had been, that anytime Thomas had been overwhelmed with his Anxiety and his thoughts had been circling around -like they did now, but that Roman didn’t know- it had been nearly impossible for Roman to work properly. But they had overcome this issue. All four of them together, working as a team.  
But Janus took a whole different approach. He had impersonated some of the Sides that Thomas mostly relied on when he felt like he could use a little push in the right direction and sneaked his way into the circle. Although Janus had said he was indeed trying to look out for Thomas, Roman couldn’t stop thinking that there was something terribly wrong with the way he suddenly had showed up. Since he had showed up, it felt like everything was crushing down. Thomas began to deal with more and more severe issues lately and to set the crown on top of everything Remus had shown himself.   
It’s not that Roman hadn’t known about his brother. They had known each other from the day they were “born”, being their separation due to Thomas’ way of ideas and creativity. But most of the time, with the help of the others he had been able to hold his darker counterpart at bay. How Remus had been able to slip into the frame this time was a mystery, but he had a faint idea that a certain snake was to blame.

A soft knock on the metaphorical door -not a physical one since it was Thomas’ mind- pulled Roman from his own thoughts.   
“Are you alright, kiddo?”  
“Come in, Patton”, he said with a little sigh and as Patton entered the room of his friend he found the Creativity sitting on the floor, his back leaned at the wall below the window. Since Thomas himself was now in his bedroom and not the living room anymore, the rooms of the Sides looked like the bedroom as well. But they also looked like that when they were “relaxing” -meaning Thomas was not actively working with them-.   
“Oh dear!”, Patton sighed as well and sat next to Roman in the blink of an eye. For a while none of them spoke a word, they just sat next to each other, trying to work themselves through the events of this night.   
“How could you trust him?”, Roman suddenly blurted out and Patton, who didn’t expect the sudden outburst, jumped a little. Then he looked at the creative Side with a soft smile on his face. Roman on the other hand looked like he tried to impersonate Virgil. He had dark circles under his eyes and the eyes themself were red.  
“I do not!”, Patton declared. Of course he did not trust a Side who literally was “Deceit”, although they now knew his name. But as it seemed it wasn’t as black and white as they wished it was and accepting it was still a challenge for him. It wasn’t hard to imagine how it must be for Roman, who left the conversation earlier. “But for the moment, I thought it was better to pull back a little. I’m not saying we should do everything that Janus suggests, but if we tried to push Thomas in the direction we wanted, it could have gotten worse. I don’t like to admit it, but Janus had some valid points!”  
“But he’s a Liar! He literally calls himself _The Lord of the Lies_! He only worked his words around the truth, so Thomas would listen to him!”  
“What’s with you, Roman?!”, Patton said then, while laying a hand on the others Sides shoulder. Roman shrugged it off with a rather harsh motion, leaving his colleague to look at him with the Puppy-eyes he was well known for. Usually he’d grow soft on Patton looking at him like that -NO Side could resist the Patton-Puppy-Face- but Roman was to upset at the moment to fall for that.   
“No what’s with _you_? As we were discussing the issue, you were so convinced that what _he_ wanted is false and yet you were siding with him now. You all were siding with effing Deceit, against me? It’s-…”  
“No one is truly >against you<, Roman!”, Patton corrected him and tried to make the other one looking at him. A rather difficult task, since his friend seemed to be trying _not_ to look at him. “We are all Thomas’ Sides and we _all_ want to help him somehow. Janus’ approach may be questionable, compared to what we are used to, but still, he stated more than once, that he wanted to help Thomas as much as we do! And I get, why you are feeling hurt, because I feel similar. But I think, the core of your pain is based in a misunderstanding!”  
“ _Misunderstanding_?!”  
“You think Thomas lied to you, as he said you were his hero, don’t you?!”  
Patton and Roma turned in unison to the “door”. The voice was soft, but dark and low and in the doorframe was a Side Roman had wished, not to see again so soon.   
“Get out!”  
“Oh, Roman, you should leave the hissing to Virgil, he does a way better Job, than you do!”  
“Janus, please, leave him alone?” Now it was Thomas’ deceptive Side, who was faced with the infamous Puppy-eyes. Like Roman, Janus tried to avoid this view, in fear of loosing his bite towards the Prince. He did not like it when another Side made him grow softer.  
“I just came to clarify some things, I’m too tired for another round and when I look at our Disney-wannabe, he could use some rest, as well”  
“You’re physically not able to _clarify,_ Janus!”  
Suddenly Janus stood right in front of Roman, who staggered backwards and could just stop himself to bump into Patton. That the Dark Sides were able to pop out of nowhere was something he had forgotten entirely about.   
“You are aware that speaking the untruth is something I can _actively_ control? Meaning, if I decide to tell the truth it _is_ the truth, whether you want to accept it or not. And you will listen to me, because I’m done with this nonsense all of you were doing to Thomas!”  
“What do you mean Janus?”  
“What could I possibly mean, my dear?”  
Patton stood right behind Roman, clutching into his shirt instinctively. Janus’ reaction surprised him, since he thought they had formed some kind of truce after the events of this evening.   
“I’m talking about all of you. His active Sides, his >Core< Sides, pushing and pulling him around for way too long and not getting him anywhere. Not to mention what you did to Virgil!”  
“ _We_ did nothing to him!”, Roman said, more loudly than he had intended. “Virge opened up to us on his own!”  
“ _Sure_ he did!”  
Oh there was the sarcasm again. Roman hated it.  
“And you’re all doing such a great Job looking out for him, right?”, Janus went to the door, leaving Romans room. At the doorframe he turned around to the other Sides. “By the way, have you seen him tonight?”  
  
  


+#+#+#+#+#

Logan was awake the second he heard the knock on the door, which wasn’t only loud, but you could sense the urgency within it. Although he wasn’t quite in the mood to face the other Sides tonight -being impersonated by Deceit for a second time really was a hit in the non-existent guts- had left him rather bummed out and he had wanted to get some rest after he subtly made sure, that Thomas fell asleep. Something he still had not achieved the moment someone had knocked on his door.  
“No, Patton, we don’t throw another Onesie-par-“  
“Have you seen Virgil?”  
“Good evening to you, too, Roman. Hello Patton!”  
“Yeah-yeah, good evening!”, Roman said hastily as he walked right past Logan into his room, followed by Patton.   
“What are you-?”  
“Did you not hear what I was asking?!”  
“Yes, yes I did and no, I did not see Virgil today, why?!”  
Logan frowned as he saw Thomas’ Creative Side share a worried glance with his Moral Side. Maybe it had been a mistake to lean back tonight…  
“What happened?!”, he asked, alarmed by their behaviour and closed the door behind them. The reason Remus had crashed one of their meetings with Thomas may have been caused by an open door while the four of them had discussed something before meeting him.   
“Well, Janus-“  
“Who”  
“Deceit!”  
“His name is-?”  
“Yeah, now can we go on?!”, Roman interrupted in a rather rough tone and bit his lower lip right afterwards. He still could hear what Janus had told him. Which exactly had been, what made him feel so lost at the moment… and hurt.   
  
_“Oh Roman, Thank God you don’t have a moustache. Otherwise between you and Remus, I wouldn’t know **who** the evil twin is_!”

This had gotten deeply under his skin than he would admit and even though Patton had done his best to make things better, Roman still felt a deep sting where his heart should be if he would actually be a human and not a splinter of a personality.

“ _You see everything you don’t want to be!”  
_  
“I’m sorry!”, he said abruptly and now it was Logans turn to share a worried glance with Patton, who shrugged.   
“It has been a rough evening, without me as it seems”  
“Understatement of the century!”  
It rarely occurred that the Sides said the exact same thing at the same time, even though they all had their roots in the same brain. So as Patton and Roman did this, sounding as exhausted as if they had finished a Marathon, Logan became even more worried than he already had been.  
“It was wrong to let you deal with all of this alone, I see”, he said and gestured towards his bed, so the two other Sides sat down with him. He had been with them for a while but not as actively as it may have been needed and although he would rather bite his imaginary tongue off than to admit that -he _hated_ admitting failures- but this may have been a huge mistake.   
“Okay, tell me everything!”

  
They took turns explaining what exactly had happened, since sometimes Roman was to overwhelmed with his emotions and it took all he could bring up not to have a little breakdown. And sometimes Patton could not bear to tell something because _he_ got to emotional and so on. Logan, being the Logical Side to the max at the moment, sat there, silently and listened to everything they said, as trivial as it might seem in his eyes. But as stirring as the events this night had been, he needed every detail he could get.   
“And then he asked us if we had seen Virgil tonight and now we both feel guilty because we haven’t and we were not worried about him not showing up although Thomas was clearly stressed out and nervous and now we don’t know what to do!”, Patton ended the little explanation and this whole sentence he had said in one breath.   
“Hm…”  
Afterwards the room was Silent. If someone had dropped something it would have been so loud that maybe Thomas, who now was on the dangerous brink between sleep and awake, might be fully awake again. Logan said nothing for a while and did what he could do best… Think!

“I now understand, why Roman is so upset. Being compared to your counterpart might have been hurtful, especially after the recent events, but I saw you put an effort in getting better, the moment you realized what you said.” Logan put a hand on the Princes’ shoulder. “You’re not him, Roman.”  
Roman just pressed his lips together and nodded, unable to say anything. Logan then glanced to Patton and nodded in Romans direction while he kept explaining. Roman got a hug meanwhile and it was clearly visible…he _needed_ one.   
“And I truly think, that De-… Janus tried to help you tonight, even if his behaviour is questionable most of the time. However, his actions and what he said afterwards is somehow alarming. We haven’t seen Virgil the whole time, but we know that he belonged to the Dark Sides, as we call them. But he seems to know where our anxious colleague is, if not he would not have been as teasing towards the fact he is absent right now!”  
“What do you suggest?”  
“To Virgils Room again?”  
Patton looked as if he had been told to throw kitten in a fire. He still remembered the last time, as they had visited the room in Thomas’ mind where the Anxiety had it’s source he was not all to keen to make that experience again.   
“This might be tricky, Logan!”, Roman said as Thomas’ Logic had nodded to Pattons question. “Thomas is almost asleep and although I’m still deeply troubled and don’t know how he thinks of me et cetera … I don’t to bother him more than necessary. We love him, right? And he needs some rest”  
Silence followed while the three of them looked at each other. There was one option they always used when they were being active in Thomas’ sleep time. It was a risky move, but worth a shot.   
“So… shall I call him in?”, Patton asked but Logan made a disapproving sound and nodded towards Roman.  
“You two often work in tandem, you call him!”  
“Fair enough”, the Prince said with a shrug and went to the door.   
“Somnus, could you come over for a second?”


	3. Dreams and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Logan, Patton and Roman try to come up with a plan which allows them to savely enter Virgils room to look for him, Virgil himself has to deal with hardships on his own.

** Chapter 2 - Of Dreams and Nightmares **

"What?!"  
Oh, someone was in a bad mood. Logan glanced at Patton while they waited for the person outside of Logans' Room to enter. Somnus however seemed rather reluctant to do as Roman had asked him.  
"Come on move your butt!" Roman ignored the little Gasp Patton made and gestured to the centre of the room. Another personality aspect appeared, but this one seemed as sulky as Virgil in his old days. Somnus wore a leather jacket and dark pants and although they were technically inside, he wore sunglasses as well.  
"I'm not really in the mood to put up with your shenanigans again!", he declared right as he entered the room, putting his coffee mug on a stack of books causing Logan to roll his eyes -he _hated_ it when the others did that- while Patton just waved at Somnus.  
"But we need your help. Please?!"  
"Don’t you _dare_ to pull the puppy eyes on me, Patton!"  
Oh, Patton knew exactly what he was doing. Besides Virgil, Somnus was the one who fell for this trick the most. He rarely used this trait intentionally but if he could help Thomas by doing so, he would step over the line once more. Somnus let out a heavy breath and nodded.  
"FINE! What do you need?"  
"Thomas needs a rather pleasant dream tonight. We all had a rough time and we are trying to enter Virgils' Room. Doing so in Thomas' current state would cause more damage than actual help", Logan explained quickly and Somnus was looking towards Roman.  
"Suggestions?"  
"This guy from last time?"  
"Oh, he was cute, alright!"  
"But please… nothing too _exciting_. This also would not be very helpful in the end!"  
"You're so boring, Logan!", Somnus mumbled, clearly annoyed while Roman tried to fight back a grin.  
"Fine, now that it's settled, we can-"  
"Not so fast, Bookworm!"  
Logan looked at the other two, while Somnus laughed over his own joke. Luckily those two weren't joining him.  
"What?"  
"I don't help you out for nothing anymore, and you know that"  
"So, what do you want?!", Roman said impatiently. He wouldn't admit _that_ out loud, but he was extremely worried about the whereabouts of Virgil as well, even though the pain from tonights' events was still deep in his non-existent bones.  
"A seat at the _glorious table_!"  
Oh oh sarcasm. Somnus often used that tone when he was getting angry or annoyed. If at Thomas for not letting him do his work or any other Side did not matter.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You know very well, what I mean, Cuddlemuffin!" Patton was too amused over the nickname to realize the tone which Somnus had used. It wasn't like he did not know what sarcasm was but, in this moment, he was so worried about Virgil that he seemed unable to focus on anything else.  
"I don't, we are clearly standing in my room, what table do you mean?"  
"Learn Idioms, dude!"  
As if to show him, that this was indeed something he was working on, Logan waved with a stack of cards which not only made Somnus smile, but the other ones as well. But Thomas' "sleepy" Side stopped grinning as quick as he had started it and, to everyones surprise, took his glasses off.  
"Listen, guys. I _will_ help you, sure. It's my goal to make Thomas sleep and although he has been neglecting me quite often, it's my Job after all. But try to understand me. Or Remus. Or even Janus!"  
Roman tensed at the mention of Deceits name and Patton, sensing him being uneasy, took his hand without even blinking or looking at him. It was the most normal thing to him, comforting the others. Roman gave him a thankful smile, which Patton replied with a soft squish of his hand. No words needed.  
"You three, four now counting little Virge in, have been the Sides Thomas relies on the most in his decision making and considering what you represent it's only normal. But...you can't blame us others to feel some kind of envy?!"  
That was a statement no one has expected, and the other Sides fell silent instantly, looking from one to another, not sure what to say or do. Even Logan was out of words. Somnus looked at each of them for a moment before putting his sunglasses back on.  
"Go search that little pain in my butt, I'll take care of Thomas. And tell Virge he could take some nights off again, would you?"  
"Sure?!", Roman said but he sounded as convinced as Thomas when he started a video, which was mostly the time when he wasn't sure what to do at all.  
"Good boy, Princey-"  
"Don't call me-!"  
"See ya!"  
And suddenly the three were alone again. Although they still had to find Virgil or at least look for him, all three of them were stunned for a moment, still trying to understand what Somnus just told them.  
"We never considered that, did we?"  
"And we knew about them all along. I feel bad!", Patton admitted and now it was Romans turn to give him comfort.  
"You don't have to, we all messed up a little on that case.", he said and let go of Pattons hand to ruffle through his hair. Roman had not done this for quite a while, but Patton remembered him doing so in the earlier years of Thomas being a teenager, as a way to show some affection. "But now we have other things to worry about, that being our other little fluffball ... of doom"  
"Don't tell Virgil you called him that. _Ever_!", Logan said and opened to door to his room, gesturing to the others to follow him.  
"He would hunt me around through all the brain, wouldn't he?", Roman whispered to Patton who shrugged. _He_ liked that nickname.

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#

“Ugh, this place is just as unpleasant as last time!”  
Roman walked around in Virgils room, looking for any sign of their anxious friend or at least a clue where he might be. But the three of them saw no sign of Virgil anywhere and the room already was starting to do a number on them. Logan was walking around in circles while Patton tried to cling on anything to squish it, because his feelings started to get the best of him.  
“Oh, I hope he’s not hurt. I don’t mean physically hurt, but you know. His feelings? We haven’t seen him for a long time, and he had a lot to deal with the last time he was there. When Remus was there, too! He was so upset…Oh where are you Virge~”  
All this just bubbled out of Pattons mouth without a break for taking a breath and the last sentence he was practically whining. He already got dark shadows under his eyes, more that the others did.  
“What do you mean, Patton?”, Logan asked and tried with all he could to remain calm, although the urge to spill facts was getting harder to resist with any second passing.  
“He-got-really-upset-about-Remus-being-there-for-so-long-and-practically-begged-Thomas-not-to-let-them-be-around-so-long-again-how-could-you-forget-that?!”  
“Oh no. It’s already starting!”, Roman said not noticing the shadows under his own eyes getting darker and darker. “It was a bad idea to come here, I knew it. We didn’t find Virgil and we don’t know where to look for him. What does that mean? Where do we look for him?”  
“Considering the fact, that Thomas is still feeling anxiety and nervousness proves that he _has_ to be around here somewhere, but is either not visible to us or he went to a different space in Thomas’ mind.”  
“Whoa there, Brainiac! We can do that?”  
“Well if we can visit each others rooms and manifest ourselves in Thomas mind palace when he is talking to us, of course we can.”  
“Thinking is not my strong side at the moment!”  
“BUT-WHERE-ARE-WE-GONNA-GO~”  
Roman sighed heavily trying to fight back temptation of driving Thomas more anxious. Since it was the room, they were in, causing this to all of them, there was only one solution.

“Guys, we have to leave this room! It was a stupid idea, to come here. Without Thomas or Virgil here… “  
“We’re in danger of driving him mad, aren’t we?”  
“I fear so, Patton!”  
This was _not_ the most scaring thing to understand, Logan suddenly realized. The main problem here was not only that what they were doing did the opposite of the effect than they had wanted to, but the fact that they had no idea, how they should get out of this situation, without Virgils or Thomas’ help.

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#

This corner of Thomas' mind was dark, even for his standards. All you could see, when you bothered enough to take an actual look at your surroundings, were vague scenarios and snippets of thoughts all wrapped in blackness.  
"Oh, you really went back to the roots, little one, didn't you?"  
"Don't. Call. Me. That!"  
"You sound so threatening, Virgil. I'm getting scared here!"  
"Fuck off!"  
"Language!"  
If looks could kill… and if the Sides were actual human beings with the ability to die, Janus would be a cold dead body instantly. But neither was Virgils glance lethal nor did Janus care. He just smirked and began circling Thomas’ Anxiety in a slow pace.  
"What made you hide here in his subconsciousness, dear?"  
“I don’t think that’s your business at all!”  
“Now you just hurt my feelings, Virge!”  
Thomas’ Anxious Side gave Janus another glance but he seemed to enjoy this very much. Although his appearance resembled a snake he smiled like a cat, which found a mouse in the corner.  
“I never allowed you to call me that!”  
“But we are so _good friends_ , how could you forget about that?”  
If Janus was acting that dramatic to mock-impersonate Roman or just to get on Virgils nerves was uncertain, but it was for sure unsettling to look at.  
“We were never friends!”  
“Oh but the other ones suddenly are?”  
“I-“  
“Don’t you wonder why they made a whole video, dealing with some major problems Thomas has and not caring in the slightest where you might be?”  
“Don’t!”  
“Don’t you wonder if they even care about you at all?”  
“I said **_don’t_** ”  
Janus took a step back and surprisingly looked all proud, as if he had been waiting for that exact moment. Virgil on the other hand closed his hand over his mouth and froze. It had been quite a while since he had used that _voice_. The last time he could remember had been as Remus suddenly had appeared.  
“There it is”, Janus said, seemingly unable to hide his happiness about what just happened, while Virgil was not able to say anything. What if he fell for his tricks again? Deceit had always been good at pushing the right buttons to make him freak out. Remus did so, too but this Side was far more manageable, due to him being totally unfiltered, upfront and honest. While Janus… he could give you the sweetest words while stabbing you in the back.  
“You’re hiding here, since the video where Thomas found out about Remus, don’t you?”  
“ ** _You were making him show up_**!”  
“Oh, I missed that sweet voice of yours. And you know what, because you’re playing along so well, I will be honest for a second. _Yes._ I did plant this little idea in the Dukes head and he was all too eager to participate.”  
If Somnus wouldn’t work a double shift right now, Thomas would not have been sleeping, from all the subconscious fear he was just getting from the fact that Virgil felt the effects of his own being on himself. He took a few steps back from Janus and tried to calm himself down, a challenge in and of itself, considering he was the Part of Thomas who represented his anxiety.  
“What are you plotting?”  
“Plotting? Me? Now don’t be stupid, I never plot anything!”  
“And my eyes are blue, let’s go on. What do you want?”  
“It’s not what I want, little one.”  
Virgil almost jumped out of his shoes, since Janus had appeared behind within the blink of an eye. Not wanting to show him is back he turned and again, stumbled backwards.  
“You’re… working with Remus together?”  
“Maybe? Just imagine… All the _Dark Sides_ teaming up to help Thomas achieve his goals. Doesn’t that sound fun?”  
“That sounds like a horror-movie. Besides, it was not me who came up with that term!”  
“I know the boring Creativity did. But you’re missing the point here!”  
“Being?”  
“We have enough!”  
Confusion took the place, where fear had been a second ago and Virgil looked at Janus as if he was an equation, he was unable to solve.  
“Enough?”  
“Yes, _enough_. Enough of the >Golden Trio< and their angsty little _pet_ to be the only one Thomas considers listening to, even if there are more of us. We care for him just as much as you do and all we have faced in the past is neglect!”

If one thing was certain, when dealing with Janus, it was the following: The more emotional he got and the louder his voice became, the more he was speaking the truth. But being called a “pet” of the others hit Virgil so deeply that he did not recognize, how Deceit was slipping out of his smooth mannerism. Being a part of the group was something Virgil was still worried about for the time he started working with them together. But the fear of being left out never truly went away and the constant worry of getting back to the position where the others wanted to get rid of him, always was in the back of his metaphorical head.  
“You know how that feels, Virgil!”  
“I do…”, he admitted, lacking anything else to say at this point. He hated when Janus was right about something, especially when it was something Virgil felt insecure about.  
“Then _why_ are you trying to work against me? I mean no harm. No to you and not to Thomas...”  
“I-…”  
“Join us!”


	4. The Expected Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas wakes up after the rough night he had, dealing with the events at the wedding and the talk to his Sides only to realize his troubles are far from gone and may have more severe consequences than he had thought. And while Janus tries to show Thomas his effort to work with him the other Sides are still stuck in Virgils room, dealing with the effects the room has on them.  
> And someone might come for their aid, but not the person they thought it would be.

** 03 – The Expected Unexpected **

The next morning was a weird experience for Thomas. Although his evening had been the mess of the messes and he had troubles falling asleep in the end, the sleep itself had been rather okay. He even had a rather pleasant dream.  
But as good as the sleep had been, the morning came in the end and with it… the worries.  
Still there was no sign of Virgil anywhere and the thoughts started to circle around in his head again. But unlike to normal situations, his Anxiety was not here to help him through this.  
He tried to summon Logan, to have at least someone here, who knew what he was talking about. His Logical Side might not be the best at comforting someone but maybe a clear logical look at the facts might help him to calm down again.  
Nope.  
No Logan.  
Maybe Patton might help?  
He was not only his Moral Side but his rather soft and childish Side and he could _desperately_ use a soft and fluffy Person around him at the moment.  
Nope.  
Patton did not show up either.  
Something was terribly wrong and if Thomas was not panicking a few moments ago, he certainly was now! _None_ of his Sides showing up was a thing that never happened before and he felt like he was slowly loosing control over himself. Talking with his Sides has been a stable method for him to work out his problems in the recent years. He got used to them being around and helping him out that he did not know what to do without them.  
Thomas did not expect the Prince to show up, especially after the last nights events but he still tried to call him into his consciousness, but the result was exactly what he expected.  
No Roman either.  
“Janus, get your ass out here!”  
“Rude?”  
“Don’t get started I’m in a really bad mood right now!”, Thomas said, sounding more exhausted than someone who had a proper nights rest should.  
“Oh dear, I did not realize that!”  
“Sure you didn’t. Take your glove off!”  
“Excuse me?”  
“You heard me. You were honest about your name as you had it off last night and I need you to be honest right now!”  
Janus rolled his eyes, but did as asked, albeit reluctantly. Stressed Thomas was one thing to handle, but stressed and angry Thomas was not exactly what he wished to work with. But this was just the first phase and if everything went as he planned, handling Thomas would become much smoother soon.  
“Here, it’s off!”  
“Where are the others?”  
“No idea!”  
The answer came too quickly and Thomas frowned and Janus, who had the most convincing “innocent sheep” look, someone with half of the face resembling a snake could manage to have. He wasn’t even technically lying. Thomas did not specify who he was talking about and he really did not know where the rest of the “GoodGuy-Squad” was at the moment.  
“Fine…”, Thomas sighed and turned away from Janus. “Leave me alone then!”  
“Thomas, I-“  
“No. I don’t want your company right now!”  
“ _Why?”_  
Thomas staggered back at the sudden outburst of Janus and saw his deceptive Side to look more hurt than angry. For a moment he was actually worried, since last night he had tried to help him actually. Maybe he was being to rough on him.  
“Why are you still not relying on me? Or Remus? Why are we left out, although you saw me trying to help you just last night? You said you trusted me!”  
“I- … I do. At least I try to do. But I’m not feeling really great right now and I have no idea how you might help me get out of this, especially when I’m not used to have you actively around”  
“Do you really believe what this wannabe-royal said about us? The we’re _The Dark Sides_?”  
“Well… you’re not really _Light_ either, are you?”  
He had Janus seen offended only once, which had been last night as Roman had laughed about his name. Which had been rude to say, even Thomas had to admit that, but he also knew where it could come from. Roman might had been feeling as if he had been pushed aside in favour of Janus, which must feel even more severe since Roman had been there since the first moment Thomas talked to his Sides actively.  
“Fine!”, Janus said and put the glove back on. “I tried to make it clear more than once, that I actually care for your well-being and I was willing to work with the other ones together but if you all act like this, I have to do as I always do best”  
“Janus, please-“  
“No. You made your point quite clear Thomas. So much for your honesty!”  
Thomas was alone again, feeling worse than ever. Like everything was spinning around faster and faster only to end in crashing down in the end.  
  


This might be the same feeling Thomas rather well known and most relied Sides were experiencing, since they were still trapped in that corner of Thomas mind, where his Anxiety resided. How long they had been there no one of them could say, they had lost every sense of time…and of themselves.

They sat in the centre of the room, back to back and tried with all they could to remain sane.  
Logan had started to mutter all facts to himself he could remember and he thought it might distract him from the severe situation they were in.  
Patton had stopped talking ages ago and switched back and forth between silently crying and whimpering gibberish.  
Roman was lost completely and was not able to say anything. He just stared into the darkness with an expression that could be anything between pain and not-feeling-anything at all.  
“Do you think this is the end?”, Patton suddenly asked into the silence that had been growing between the three of them a while ago and Logan, who was so deeply lost in the spiral of thoughts, sprang back at the sudden noise and stopped reciting. Even if it was hard for him he tried for a moment to remain calm an reconsider.  
“End of what? Us? Thomas? The Sides? Be more specific!”  
“I think he means us!”, Roman then said and he never had sounded as defeated as now. Going to Virgils room after such an emotional impact he had suffered had been the worst idea they had, even if the intentions were good. Still there was no sign of Virgil anywhere, which added to the list of stuff to worry about.  
“I don’t know!”  
If he had been frantic before now Logan was almost alarmingly calm and turned towards the others. “We never have been in a situation as dangerous as this. Last time we were here, Thomas and Virge were here to pull us out. But we don’t know what Thomas is doing at the moment and if he knows we’re stuck in here. Maybe the remaining Sides have his attention booked for them, so he doesn’t sense anything is wrong overall!”  
“Well it sure isn’t my fault!”  
The three of them turned around, not expecting someone else to be with them in this room. But there he was, leaning against the banisters, grinning like a the little bastard he was.  
“What are _you_ doing here?”  
“Glad to see you, too, sweet brother of mine!”  
“Can’t say the same!”  
“So you don’t want me to save you?”  
“To do what now?”  
Remus grinned even wider and started walking towards the other ones, stopping right before his twin and leaning down so they were on eye-level.  
“You heard me, you just don’t want to believe me!”  
“I have troubles believing you, too!”, Patton admitted but Logan shook his head.  
“Remus doesn’t lie!”  
“But it could be Janus, posing as him!”  
“He’s not!”  
“How can you be so sure about that?”, Roman asked and turned towards the logical one of the them. Logan just gestured towards Remus again, who had pulled out another deodorant.  
“As far as Janus’ skills in disguise go, he would not be able to do _that_ without vomiting on our feet!”  
“True!”  
“Is it so hard to believe I would like to help you?!”, Remus said and sounded actually like that fact would hurt his feelings deeply. He sat in front of his brother with the most serious expression someone with such a moustache could ever make.  
“I am your brother, Roman. Think of me and what I create what you like – I don’t like your work either by the way- but I would never kill you”  
“But last time you-“  
“Shush, Fluffels!”, Remus interrupted Patton and grinned. “As Logan said. I can _not_ actually harm you. I didn’t even want to knock Roman out, I just thought it was funny!”  
“Yeah that sounds like you. Still does not explain your change of hearts!”, Roman said and moved a little back. He had not been that close to his brother and he did not know what to think about him at the moment.  
“What do you mean?”  
“We thought you were big bro with Janus? The Snake Thing in your song?”  
“Pfff… working together?”, Remus laughed a little and needed a few moments to get back to his normal state. Calling something considering Remus normal was a strong thing to say. And while Remus had laughed over this little joke the other three exchanged a confused glance before getting back up. Sitting in front of someone as jumpy as Remus was, might not be the best of ideas.  
“So you’re not working with him?”  
“No one works _with_ Janus”, Remus simply explained with an eyeroll. “He thought my rather… nonconsistent and unusual-“  
“That’s one way to say it!”  
“- way of handling things would come in handy for his little scheme but he forgot that this nature of mine does not stop when it comes to him. I may be unusual, I may be not the brightest banana in the bunch, but I don’t like to be used either. It sucks, doesn’t it, Roman?”  
“It does!”, Roman admitted reluctantly. He too had been used by Janus to convince Thomas that he should lie to his best friend. Luckily this did not happen but afterwards Roman had been struggling with the thought of being a part in the plan of someone else.  
“So what now?”  
“We get out of here, Bookworm, what do you think?”  
“And _you_ think you have what it takes, to get us out?”  
“Well how do you feel at the moment?”  
The three of them looked at each other, confused at the unexpected question and Patton was the first who saw it. Or the absence of it.  
“The dark eyeshadow is gone…”  
“I’m actually feeling… not that bad!”, Logan added and made a face like he was confronted with an equation that was difficult but interesting at the same time. “How do you manage this?”  
“What do you think is the reason, Virge always reacted as harshly when I placed a little thought in Thomas head? Yes, because this thoughts are not your usual cup of tea but also… because he has not the same influence on me as on you all!”  
The silence was almost touchable after Remus had said that and the other three looked at him than at each other, not sure if what they just heard could actually be true. But then again, Remus didn’t lie, if he was even able to do so. Being brushed aside and repressed all those years caused him to blurt out everything he wanted to say if he ever got the change.  
“I don’t want to be here anymore. Not without Virgil… and we still need to check where he is!”  
“I think we don’t have any other options. Roman?”  
Logan and Patton looked at their friend, who rarely had been as torn as he was now. Romans relationship with Remus was difficult to say the best and torn to say the truth and looking back he might not have been the best brother himself. And if acting like he had been in the past would lead to do more damage to Thomas than to help, then he too should work on himself.  
“Fine! Remus-…”, he turned to his brother. “Get us out if here!”


	5. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Roman, Logan and Patton "escaped" Virgils room and him not being there, the Sides need to take a new approach to help Thomas, who is feeling worse every second. Virgil is still absent and the other Sides need to work on themselves for the sake of Thomas' well-being.

** Chapter 04 – Truths**

While Remus was shocking Thomas‘ core Sides by actually saving them from falling into an eternal spiral of anxiety, the _actual_ Anxiety, was still hiding in Thomas‘ subconsciousness. After Janus had been there to talk to him, he even went in a little further, hoping the deceptive Side of Thomas would not find him there.  
But yet again, it seemed as if his hopes had been for nothing.  
„Have you thought about my offer?“  
Silence was the only thing Janus got as an answer. Virgil had decided that if he said nothing, offered the other one nothing to work with, he might not get hurt more… used more. Another illusion as it seemed.  
„They still did not look for you, did they?“  
As fast as Janus had been in front of him, Virgil turned away from him. Even though the thought of presenting Deceit his bare back scared him, the thought of showing his face for him to read in was even worse.  
“Why do you keep struggling? Why keep fighting? You know, I’m right!”  
The voice was like poison covered in honey. Virgil pressed his lips together, trying to stop them from trembling. Ironically, since all of his “body” was trembling. It even got worse as he felt Janus’ hand on his shoulder.  
“I never wanted this to happen, you know? If you would have been at our side still, none of this would have happened!”  
“And Thomas would still want to get rid of me!”  
“What makes you think he doesn’t want to now?”  
“ **How dare you?!”** Virgil only whispered these words but due to his _voice_ it sounded more like a growl. Quickly he covered his mouth again and staggered backwards.  
“Listen, Virge. I never denied your growth and I’m proud of you, I truly am!”  
“Sure~”  
“Let me finish! _But_ Thomas still doesn’t accept himself completely. He doesn’t accept _us_ all completely!”  
“Well you sneaked yourself in, what’s your problem then?”  
“And what about the others? What about you? Do you accept me, being an active Side?”  
He didn’t.  
But Virgil could not bring himself to say that out loud. Not only because it would prove Janus’ point, but because he was thinking about it. Yes, he had grown and became close with the others, but the fact that he once had been close to the “dark” Sides could not be denied. Also, he was not the Side for Denial, it was the snake faced man right before him. Who was actually making an effort _not_ to fall in his old scheme, Virgil now realized.  
“You would have been proud at the things Roman said, last night, you know? They even top the stuff I got to hear from you as you left-“  
“Don’t bring that up now!”  
“Why not? Do you want to forget that part of your life? Reduce it to _just a phase_. Remember when you had the talk about phases with Thomas?”  
“Fine, you got me!”, Virgil sighed and surprisingly, Janus did not have a triumphant smile in his face. Which was what he had been expecting to see actually.  
“I mean no evil, Virgil. I never did, just as Remus never really wanted to scare Thomas. It’s not our fault that our behaviour developed the way it did, neither is it Thomas’.”  
“Then who’s at fault that all seems to crash down now? Are we? Are the other ones? Are you blaming my friends now?”  
The look Janus gave him, actually made Virgil feel like he crossed a line now. He’d never seen the deceptive Side look hurt before and seeing it now was a truly unsettling experience.  
“You never called us friends back then!”  
Virgil had wanted to add something but as quickly Janus could appear out of nowhere, he was gone again.

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+

“We will never go into another Sides room again, without the Side it belongs to with us!”, Logan proclaimed the second as Remus had taken them out of Virgils room and the Sides stood in something some might call a hallway. Actually, it was kind of a “in between” – area in Thomas mind where the rooms of all Sides were connected with one another, which made the discussions with each other possible in the first place.  
“Agreed!”, Roman said, surprisingly in unison with Remus. As the creative Side looked at his brother the latter just shrugged, but you could see that he was trying hard not to grin at this moment. Patton seemed to be out of words for the moment and no one had ever seen him this relieved and scared at the same. And as pale. For a moment he said nothing and turned away, maybe too overwhelmed with the whole situation.  
“Oh, great… you’re back!”  
All of the Sides turned towards the direction the voice came from, to find Somnus leaning at the doorframe to his room, where all the dreams Thomas ever had, were hiding. Looking at his expression he did not seem overly happy to see them back.  
“We are...”, Roman said reluctantly and exchanged a little glance with Logan, who seemed a little worried, as all of them did. Somnus behaviour had been suspicious to begin with but they had needed his help to search for Virgil. Now that they knew that the anxious Side was in fact _not_ in his room, they could look somewhere else… or try for another approach to solve this whole mess the situation had become.  
“You don’t might know where dear old Virgil could be, do you sweetheart?” Somnus looked at Remus as if he had suggested him to jump from the highest tower. The relationship between those two was not the best either, although it was mostly Virgils reaction to Remus that made Somnus unable to do his job sometimes.  
“Don’t use that word, we both know I’m not sweet!”, the sleepy Side grumbled and took another sip of coffee. No one had actually seen him without the not-really-existing coffee in his hand. “And _no_ , I have no idea where this jerk is!”  
“ **Do not** call him that!”, Patton said and for a moment all of the other Sides remembered that he was not only referred to as the “Dad”-Side for the jokes. Although Logan mostly was the calm and strict one, Patton too was able to radiate such an authoritarian aura it made the other ones take a step back. But it occurred so rarely that it was easy to forget about that fact. “You know, like we all, that Thomas will never be fully himself if one of his Sides is missing and running wildly around in the brain-“  
“He never was fully himself, because you three were shutting us out!”, Remus threw in and as Roman gave his brother a half-confused and half-angry look the more … feral part of Thomas creativity just shrugged and mumbled something like “you know it’s true”.  
“You are right!”  
Everyone was turning to Logan, who tried his best to bring down the boiling tension that this conversation was getting occupied with. Patton had tried his best, but he knew that he could not do this alone and although the Mind and the Heart were clashing on multiple occasions, somehow both of them knew they had to work together this time. For Thomas…  
“And we know that this might have been… harmful. Not only for you, but for Thomas as well. However, this is not the time or the moment to argue about what have been and what could have been done. We need to take action. Now!”  
“Janus had said it yesterday… we have taken things too far!”, Roman said and Patton shivered as he was remembering the horrible situation that he put Thomas in last night. But as the fanciful Side turned toward him, with a soft smile, Patton knew that they were going to get out of this mess. “But we must prevent more damage to happen to Thomas. His mental health should be our priority now, not our… our pride!”  
  


“Such _pretty_ words, Roman!”  
“You do have the unpleasant habit of sneaking up on us, don’t you?” Roman did not need to turn around to know that Janus was standing behind him. Usually his reaction to the other ones appearance was more extreme but like any other Side, Roman was just done with todays events.  
“Well, it’s my job, you see”  
“Leave the salt to Remus or Somnus, please!”  
“Or to you? Is that what you’re implying? Leave all the work to you three?”  
Now Roman turned and even Janus took a step back at the glance he was getting from the prince. Not that he was looking really angry-angry but if he wanted, Roman could look pretty intimidating. The Dragon-Witch could tell a nice tale about that.  
“Well it would have been we four, if the Emo next door would not be so stubborn!”  
“So you _know_ where Virgil is?!”  
Surprisingly Janus was not able to look Patton in the eyes and just looked at his gloved hands. Only then Patton realized that not only did he have the upper hand in this conversation but also that Janus had weak points as well as any of the others Sides had. The moral Side of Thomas took a deep breath and walked right towards Janus. He was significantly smaller that him, hat aside. Patton actually had to lean his head a little backwards to look in Janus eyes.  
“Tell me, please!”  
“He won’t come out, he’s hiding!”  
“Janus, pl-“  
Patton did not have the chance to finish his sentence. Right as he was about to, he was summoned. _All_ of them were summoned.

#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+#+

He’d never done this before…  
Well Thomas tried to bring all the Sides he knew to the non-existent table but he never tried with all he could to bring all of his Sides, even those he never actively thought of, together. That he did now showed how desperate he must be.  
In fact, he wasn’t even standing. He sat _in front of his couch_ , his back leaning against it, his head laying on the arms folded over his knees. Janus had been more that right, Thomas was closer to a breakdown that he had ever been.  
“Oh dear-“  
Now that they were more than usual, the places were a little more crowded than usual. Like the last time, Janus was standing next to Patton, while Somnus was just sitting on the table in the background and Remus sat on the backrest of the couch again. Virgils place was still empty.  
“What’s going on, guys?”  
“We try to figure that out, Thomas. Please don’t worry”, Patton tried to calm him down and wished in this moment more than ever that he could actually hug Thomas. He turned to Roman and if he could read his expression as well as usual, he was not the only one thinking like that.  
“I’m so far beyond worrying!”  
“Not in a good way, I suppose?”  
“No, Roman. Not in a good way. But it’s good to see you again!”  
The soft smile Thomas gave him disappeared as quickly as it was seen, and this drove the nail deeper into Romans heart.  
“How can we help?”  
Everyone stared at Remus. This had been the second time, he actually tried to support the group without doing something creepy or disgusting or disturbing and Somnus almost let go of his coffee mug. Considering how much he loved coffee this was a thing to notice.  
“I honestly don’t know, Remus. But I’m surprised you’re asking that”  
“I already told you, we all are trying to take care of you. You just never listen to me!”  
“Come one, I already jumped out of a car-“  
“Not that, stupid!”  
“To be fair, your suggestions are barely of use in real-life!”  
“And yours are boring!”  
“At least I make sense!”  
“ _Guys!_ ”  
Roman and Remus made the exact same confused expression and Somnus placed the mug on the table with an open mouth.  
“Did they just talk in unison?”  
“Seems like it”, Logan said but seemed surprised as well while Janus and Patton, who were the ones talking, exchanged a quick look.   
“Did they ever-?”  
“Never!”, Roman said and the two Sides, which were the subject nodded.  
“To narrow it down…”, Logan said after he adjusted his glasses “… we all try to make Thomas do what’s best for him. _But_ not every suggestion is in fact the best and to help Thomas the best we can, we _all_ must work together. The ones that are usually sit in the drivers’ seat-“, he gestured towards Patton, Roman, the place where Virgil stood and himself. “- and you three as well! Yes, Somnus I know you’re just active when Thomas sleeps. But if we improve his mental health overall, your job will become a little easier, too.”, he clarified as Somnus made a disapproving sound. “The main issue is the problem some of us have, to accept those who got referred to as _the dark sides_. But there are no dark sides. Neither are there _light_ ones. Thomas is a human being with both, positive and negative character traits, yes and we should keep him on the path that is considered good. But that does not mean everything you bring up is essentially a bad idea. We might just need to make some adjustments. And it’s not as if any ideas from us got rejected completely in the past for the sake of Thomas’ success”  
“Nice lecture, teacher. Are you getting somewhere?”  
Janus sounded as annoyed and sarcastic as ever. Maybe only Patton, who stood right next to him saw the slight trembling in the deceptive Sides voice. And his body.  
“I need you. All of you!”, Thomas said and finally stood up. “I know I rejected you and I’m sorry I did. I admitted you were right, last night and I was so scared about it, even though I said it was okay in the video. But saying it and really understanding it are two separate things.”  
“We never wanted you to feel afraid of us, Thomas!” Remus now said. “It’s just… we were always brushed aside for the shiny, good Sides and that hurt. It did in the past and still does”  
“That’s the only reason, we lashed out to all of you recently!”, Janus admitted.  
“And what about Virgil?”, Roman then said and Thomas looked at the empty space, where his anxious Side usually stood. It felt like he had the Princes’ sword driven right through his chest. He was used to the little dark nightmare to be around and him being absent again was more terrifying than anything Virgil had ever made him think of.  
“Where is he, Janus? I know you know and for the sake of everyone, _tell the truth_!”  
Janus sighed, looking more defeated that Roman had last night.  
“Fine!”


	6. We're a team

** 05 – We’re a team **

“Excuse me, what?” Thomas looked at his deceptive Side as if he just had revealed he would never wear that hat of his again. In reality he “just” had revealed where Virgil was at this very moment.  
“You heard me very well, don’t act dumb!”  
“My… subconsciousness? You can go there?”  
“Of course, man. We can go everywhere in your brain, it’s our home!”, Roman said and Patton nodded eagerly. They all had been there at least once, except for Logan, when Thomas was not actively working with them. But being there for too long could be as harmful as if staying in another Sides room for too long.   
“Why would he o that?”  
“Well the last time you were talking, he revealed that he worked with Janus and Remus once and you sad nothing. I suppose he felt like you weren’t accepting him, or something like it!” Everyones eyes turned to the source of this rather unusual statement, Logan. He had clarified often enough that feelings weren’t his strong aspects and hearing him explain the emotional turmoil of one of his friends was a whole new experience.  
“How do you-?”  
“Thomas, we’re parts of _you_ , we cannot NOT know anything that comes around in your head!”, Logan said, sounding more like his usual self, being annoyed to explain everything eighty percent of the time.   
“Okay, so… Virgil doesn’t come out, because he… he doesn’t hear us when he’s in my subconsciousness?”  
“Precisely!”  
“And it would be too hard for you to get him out of there from here!”, Janus said and everyone looked at him again. He had been so silent the other Sides had almost forgotten about him.  
“Does this mean, I can’t help him?”  
“ _You_ can’t-“  
“-be we do!”, Patton finished the sentence Janus had started. Now the other Sides looked at Patton, mostly shocked. Roman even had the hand on the hilt of his sword, as if he was going to be ready to use it. Not to attack Patton, rather protecting him, as his next words were making clear:  
“I will go with you. It’s too dangerous and I won’t let a puffball like you go there alone!”  
“He wouldn’t be alone!”  
“Janus, I try to accept the fact that you’re part of the team now, but if you think I let you and Patton go alone-“  
“Why can’t you all go?”  
“Oh I can’t!”, Logan added and the others nodded. This seemed to be another fact everyone knew, except for Thomas himself.   
“Why’s that?”   
”I’m your logic, Thomas. I’m never subconscious! I simply can not enter this place”  
“You tried?”  
“Of course-“  
“Can we get back to the point?”, Patton asked, maybe a little louder than what had been necessary and Roman, easy to be alarmed unsheathed his sword. Janus just rolled his eyes while Remus giggled in the background.   
“Are you coming, too?”  
“Oh no…”, said Romans brother and crossed his legs, while still sitting on the backrest of the couch. “… with only Logan left, Thomas will get bored too easily!”  
“And _you’re_ trying to keep the balance?”  
“Nahh- I will fool around, as usual!”  
“What did we expect!”, Roman sighed but then turned to Patton. “You’re ready, buddy?”   
His friend nodded with an encouraging smile.  
“So am I, not that yout actually care!”  
“We do, Janus. But we still need to get used to you being around, okay?”  
Janus shrugged while Logan looked like he was about to say something but stopped before he could bring himself to it.   
And within the blink of an eye, they were gone.  
“So… how about we set the sofa on fire?”

If Virgil had seen that all of his colleagues and friends had gathered to find him, he might had not been as deep into Thomas’ subconsciousness as he was now.  
And he felt worse than ever in his existence. Yes, worse than when he had been part of the “dark” Sides and even worse than during Thomas puberty. Still during these times, he has had company, either Janus and Remus -even if that hadn’t been the most fun time either- or the others. Virgil would rather bite his tongue than to admit it out loud, but he missed the other Sides, even Roman. They may collide often in their approaches, but he thought the Prince to be extremely entertaining sometimes.  
“What are you doing here all alone, kiddo?”  
That voice. It hit Virgil right where the heart might have been, of he had been human and not just imaginary. That he had to chose Patton again to get him to do what he wanted was more hurtful than any stunt he had pulled in the past.   
“Stop impersonating my best friend, Janus!”  
“I don’t…”  
Janus appeared next to him, on his left side, while Patton stood on the right one. Virgil, now torn between confusion and shock looked from one to the other. Again. And again.  
“I’m here, Virge…”  
“Patton what are you- … **You’re not supposed to be here!** ”, Virgil nearly shouted and took his best friend by the shoulders, almost shaking him.  
“Careful, he’s not as robust as I am!”  
“…”  
Now Virgil nearly froze, with mouth agape, the image of pure shock. From all the Sides to appear _here_ , Roman was the last he might have expected.  
“Oh look at that, he’s out of words, what a rare occasion!”  
“Shush, Snake-jerk!”  
“Roman, your nicknames aren’t creative today!”  
“How are they supposed to be, if the Creativity is _literally_ stuck in the subconsciousness?!”  
“Wait… stuck? What do you mean with >stuck<?” Virgil was close to loosing it again, almost as bad as they all once watched “Frozen” together and he had talked himself to the brink of a panic attack for Thomas. Only Pattons hands, which he had placed at Virgils temples gently, prevented that from happening again.  
“We don’t mean that literally… you know Roman. He tends to be a little dramatic. It’s just that we were looking for you for quite the while now-“  
“And we need to get out now!”, Janus interrupted and the way he said it caused to others to look at him suspiciously. He mostly sounded annoyed or viciously amused. The only times he had broken this demeanour of his was as he had tried to convince Thomas to go to the call-back despite Romans decision and as he had disguised himself as Logan last night, right before he had revealed himself.  
Hearing Janus, especially Janus, be worried the way Thomas and Patton acted around spiders was alarming.  
“What’s wrong?”, Patton asked trying not to be worried, because he was still in the process of calming Virgil down.   
“ _Him_. He might be waking up if we stay here for too long!”, Janus said and didn’t need to tell, who he as talking about. They knew…

_Every Side knew_.

“He already is awake”, Virgil then said, a lot more relaxed than he had been moments ago and pushed Pattons hands away softly with a tiny smile on his face, which vanished rather quickly. Although it seemed like the group was not going to get split up due to recent events, the situation they were in was rather dangerous.   
“Well then we need to get out as soon as possible, right?”, Roman said, his sword drawn, and he turned into every direction to see if any danger was getting near them. Patton clinged to Virgils hoodie instinctively while Janus and Virgil were exchanging a quick look.  
“Okay… I go first, Virgil and Patton, you follow up and Roman, please secure us from behind if anything should follow us!”, Janus then said and it was for the first time in what felt like ages that no one doubted what he said.   
“Do you think he can escape?”, Patton asked, hand grabbing the fabric of Virgils jacket as if it was something to hold on when lost in a stormy sea.  
“He’s still locked up but… the wedding and everything happening recently is stirring Thomas emotions up and the danger of him breaking out is bigger than ever. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Janus is right-“, Janus grinned like a cat again. “- we need to leave. **Now _!”  
_** And they ran… ran as fast as a group of could run, when two were clinging to each other for dear life while walking.  
Moments seemed to last an eternity, surrounded by nothing but darkness. But then, after hours or seconds, no one knew, the darkness began to light up softly, gradually until they saw a thin strand of light. This was the border, separating Thomas subconsciousness from the rest of his mind.  
“We made it!”, Roman said with a relieved grin as the group stopped before the border. The run through the mind of Thomas maybe couldn’t tire them out physically but they were exhausted to some extent.  
“We… -we should g-“  
A roar interrupted Patton, coming from every direction as it seemed and the ground beneath them was shaking. Virgil had been right.  
He _was_ awake!  
“Out. **Now _!”_** Virgil said and pushed Patton through the border. Roman followed quickly and now just Janus and Virgil were left.   
“Janus, I-“  
“This is hardly the right moment for this, little one!”  
“That’s not what I try to say, will you let me finish my sentence?! I’m talking about this… about him!”, he gestured to the darkness. “We can’t pretend like he doesn’t exist. If you actually want to be a part of the group, we can’t hide things from Thomas anymore!”  
“You may be right, but _ihehe_ is another subject entirely and I’d like to discuss that when we’re not in imminent _danger_!”  
“Point for you!”  
“Move!”, Janus than said and pushed Virgil to the border as another growl shook the mind, while following right behind him.

For Virgil, who had been in the subconscious mind of Thomas the longest, returning to the spot he usually stood in, felt like getting in your home after a long and exhausting walk in the cold. Warmth embraced him like a cozy, fluffy blanket and he nearly sighed by the feeling of being back again.  
“VIRGE, you’re back!”  
“My…ears!”  
The last time Thomas had been this happy about the appearing of a Side, Roman had been waking up after being knocked out by Remus. Virgil made a step back and almost stumbled over the stairs before taking a look around.  
“You’re back!”, Logan simply stated but the tiny little smile that fought it’s way to be seen on his face couldn’t be hidden for long. He was indeed happy to have Virgil back.   
Thomas’ anxiety took a look around only to realize how crowded this place was, with Patton and Janus standing next to each other, Remus on the Sofa in the back and-  
“Somnus, what are you doing here?”  
“He was helping us, when we were looking for you in your room!”, Roman explained only to make Virgil glanced at Janus.  
“So they were totally not looking for me, right?” Thomas deceptive Side rolled his eyes, but as all the others, including Thomas, were looking at him he thought a little more explanation might be a good idea.   
“I was mad, okay?! You all were acting as if the >dark< Sides, as you call us-“ Roman looked at the shelf with Thomas’ games as if he saw it for the very first time. “- were _not_ trying to do what is best for Thomas. We got brushed aside for so long, so I thought if the >dark< Sides would work together in the moment you thr- four were failing to help him, maybe he would see that we can be relied on, too. So, I wanted Virgil not to trust you anymore, because…”  
“You were hoping it would be like in the past again?”  
Janus merely nodded. He didn’t trust his words now. Just because he was trying to work with all of them now, this didn’t had to mean that they could see all aspects of him right away.   
“It’s never going to be like that anymore, Janus”, Thomas said then and surprisingly smiled a little. “Because now I know about all of you -” He didn’t see the glance Logan and Virgil shared and how the latter shook his head almost unnoticeable. Not the right time. “- but different doesn’t necessary mean bad. It might take some time, to get used to the fact that there are more of you guys and that you all come in more variations than I thought. And you all might struggle a while before we all can work together, but I’m willing to try my best!”  
“So am I”  
“Same”  
“Count me in, kiddo!”  
“Whatever!”  
“It does sound efficient!”   
“How about you dance around in your driveway, naked?”  
Everyone looked at Remus, who managed to look as innocent as someone of his appearance could look, who just shrugged.   
“We had a moment, man!”  
“Calm down, Virgil. I think…he’s trying his best”, said and looked at Romans twin, his face a figurative question mark, but Remus nodded eagerly. He still was not used to getting actively involved and so many interactions filled him with pure joy.  
“I mean to celebrate that we are trying this work-together thing now…”, Remus then added. This might not made Thomas consider what he suggested but at least it wasn’t a completely random thought. Even Virgil grinned a little at that.   
“So… what now?”  
“Thomas still needs to take some time for himself!”, Janus said. “The wedding yesterday and the turmoil we all caused last night and today…”  
“Yeah. Thomas, have you eaten something today?”  
“No, Patton, I haven’t. I woke up, felt shitty, drank coffee and then- anyway!”  
“Breakfast, now!”  
“But-“  
“Now!”  
“Afterwards, how about you read something, instead of playing on your phone for hours?”, Logan suggested while Thomas was actually walking to the kitchen to make himself something to eat. “I go even as far to recommend something other than… nonfiction. You may could go for something that keeps your mind busy in a more entertaining way for you!”  
“How about an epic high-fantasy adventure?” Roman suggested.  
“Does Thomas even have such books?”, Patton then asked and Janus next to him shrugged.  
The discussion lasted until Thomas had finished his breakfast.

The End

Or is it?

…

…

…

“I don’t think it was a good idea to return here, Janus!” Roman looked around in the darkness, as if he was expecting monsters to emerge from it. Virgil, who was walking next to him nodded softly. He wasn’t feeling comfortable being around here either.  
“If we all want to work more efficiently together, as you suggested, I need to be more honest with you guys. I don’t like to do this Roman, but I think it’s necessary if I ever loose control!”  
Roman looked from Janus’ back -he was walking in front of him- to Virgil. Thomas anxious Side did not look as confused as he expected he him to be and the only reason was that he knew what was going on.   
For a horrible second a part of Roman thought this might be a trap and he felt bad the moment he thought it. He knew Virgil long enough now to know he would never do that to him… or any other Side.   
“Trust me, okay?”, Virgil whispered to him and Roman found himself smiling back before he knew where that came from.  
But that smile vanished quickly because Janus stopped abruptly so Roman almost ran into him. Apparently, they reached their designation.   
“Wha-?”  
In the darkness Roman saw a cage, big enough for a human to fit in. The metal bars were looking like they were glowing in a warm light. But it wasn’t the cage glowing.  
Someone was _inside_ , kneeling in the centre, the arms tied to the back and the feet chained to the ground.  
“Janus,…Virge… long time since I saw the annoying faces of yours!” The person in the cage opened his eyes, which were glowing like candleflames in the darkness.   
Like all of the other Sides -or Subsides like Somnus- he looked like Thomas, but yet he did not. He grinned widely -but without any happiness in it- and showed his canines to be noticeably longer than any other Sides’. So were his nails, being more claws.  
His hair was a mess, as well as his clothes. Unlike Virgil who wore ripped jeans for the aesthetics, the locked up Sides’ clothing looked as if he barely got out of a fight.  
“What brings the little Jerksquad here?”  
His voice was almost the lowest of the all, at least compared to the occasions when Virgils was not using his **voice.  
“**I just wanted to make sure, you’re still locked up, Marius!”  
The laughing coming from the one in the cage was more like the rumbling of stones down a hill than actual laughing.  
“I won’t be stuck in here for a long time you self-righteous son of bitch!”  
“Wow he actually doesn’t hold back, does he?”, Roman whispered to Virgil.  
“I never hold back you bratty piece of shit!”  
“Neither do I, come at me bitch!”  
“Virgil, hold your boyfriend back, would you?”, Janus said, calm as ever as he began examining the cage and the locks.  
“We are not-“  
“How dare you-“  
“I don’t care, just shut up!”  
“Oh, Snakey do I have a bad influence on you?”  
“Only in your dreams, Marius!”, Janus said and snapped his fingers shortly. Marius lips were pressing together and by the furious glance he gave Janus for this action it was clear, he was not happy about this.  
“Is everything intact?”, Virgil asked and Janus nodded, nudging them away from the cage so Marius would not hear them.  
“Yes, but I had to strengthen the material again, Virgil. The time between each renewal gets shorter… we need to do something!”  
“Can you please explain all of this a little more? Or did you just bring me here to mock me?”  
“You know who Marius is?”  
“Thomas’ furious Side, yeah!”  
“Well…”, Virgil seemed to search for the right words “… apparently our control over him -Janus and mine- got weaker as I left the >dark< Sides and now that we’re all working together we need to try to reign him in more efficiently. With all of us, or else-“  
“Or else…what?”  
“Thomas might snap any time he gets more than just a little angry. He never lost control for a long time and we want to keep it that way. If not… he might hurt someone he loves!”  
Roman needed to process all this. Of course, he had known about Marius, all Sides knew each other. But the fact that he would be such a danger that he had to be locked away…  
“Okay, what can we do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that's about it. The last chapter for this little story of mine so far. I hope you enjoyed it a little. If you like to share your opinion, feel free to do so in a constructive and civilized way.  
> Anyway, I hope you all are doing well and have fun reading, what ever you're going to read after this.
> 
> Greetings^^
> 
> L


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